This invention relates to fish hooks and more particularly to a self-setting fish hook having a body portion adapted to be inserted into a lure or bait and including oppositely disposed facing spear members extending from the body portion.
The art of fishing abounds with hooks of various constructions, each with the intended purpose of securely capturing a fish on a spear when the fish strikes the hook. The multitude of proposals include hooks of various constructions having two or more spears. Exemplary of the prior art are U.S. Pat. Nos. 440,721 (Provoost); 715,342 (Bertholf); 841,951 (Evans); 914,478 (Bradley et al); 1,357,678 (Bain); 1,911,778 (Toolan); 2,618,097 (Johnstone); 2,640,291 (Garner); 2,663,966 (deMello); and 2,733,539 (Kelly).
Some of the prior art hooks, such as Provoost, Evans and Bradley et al, include structure attachable to live bait other than worms so as to entice the fish onto the spears. In Toolan the hook is supported on a slip-ring to permit shifting of a substantially S-shape hook between spears at opposite ends thereof.
However, line fishing anglers are continuously seeking improvements in hooks which would preclude a striking fish from escaping as the fish thrashes about trying to break loose. In certain of the multi-spear hooks the spears are disposed at numerous locations so that a fish going for the bait or lure would strike at least one spear, but they do not have means for precluding loss of the fish from a spear. In other hooks if the fish breaks loose from one spear, the disposition of the other spears is such as to try to have the fish caught on another spear, which generally is a low probability. In others such as in the aforesaid patents of Garner and deMello one of the spears is moveable relative to the other and comprises a construction which is relatively expensive to manufacture.